


I Will Fight For You

by ImagineMunchkin



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Character Development, Developing Relationship, Emperor has some work to do, M/M, Rating May Change, Some swearing not much tho, Sorta AU?, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-03-09 10:06:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18914776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImagineMunchkin/pseuds/ImagineMunchkin
Summary: Gloves had admired Emperor since the day he won his first square cup, but after Emperor gifted Gloves his splat dualies and encouraged him to join the tournament only to then proceeded to humiliate him on live tv Gloves' view of him soured. Unfortunately for Emperor, after battling the blue team and discovering he needs to change he and become a better king he wants to take the first step by mending his past mistakes. This turns out to be quite the challenge when the very inkling he wishes to become friends with, and is starting to develop feelings towards, doesn't like him at all.





	1. Glove's Story

Gloves was never the kind of squid to look back at his past but recently he had been doing a lot of self reflecting. He thought back when he was younger, just a 14 year old getting his first haircut when he was first able to control his inkling form. He thought about his first time turfing, the first time he formed a team, the time he mained a _bamboozler_ for crying out loud and the first time he heard about _him_.

 

“Woah check it out! This guy after a few months of turfing just won the square king cup! Can you believe that!? A total freshie!”

 

“Woah what’s his name!?”

 

Gloves had been too naive back then, he would watch from the crowd on the big screen the son of the owners of Enperry corporation flashing his devious grin as he held the cup and the world in his hands. He remembered how the crowd, his subjects, chanted his name.

 

“Emperor! Emperor! Emperor!”

 

He remembers because he too was his subject, and he too chanted his name with the crowd. After that day Gloves remembered buying every magazine with his face plastered all over it, reading and watching every interview that came out of him, saving up money to try and dress like him and buy his parents brand but ultimately never making it. Emperor had always partnered and dressed with the latest trends and brands and from that point onward it was all Gloves had focused on, trends and trends. It was never enough for him because it was never enough for Emperor. Oh how he had admired the king, he dreamed and wished to some day meet him and shake his hand in person and confess to him his deep admiration for him. Even though they were the same age, when Gloves watched every match Emperor played he turfed like he had been doing so his whole life and Gloves couldn’t want anything more in the world than to be just like him.

 

Oh how Gloves wished he could take all that back now.

 

The day came when he retreated into the mountains to try and find himself ‘spiritually’ like Half-Rimz had suggested, he had gone to meditate and try and figure out why his life wasn’t at its fullest. He remembered meditating all day until the moon was high in the sky and feeling devastated that he couldn’t figure out how to fix his problem, he had wanted to give up and leave until he had heard it. The distant sounds of ink shooting from not one weapon but two, he had gone to investigate it when he saw him there. Emperor, training with a pair of weapons Gloves had never seen before.

 

“Woah...so cool!”

 

Gloves wish he had never caught his attention, he wished he had never spoken to him because he was never the same after that.

 

“It’s a prototype of the Splat Dualies.” Emperor had told them handing them to him to get a closer look.

 

“Prototype….so it’s new? That’s very trendy!” Gloves had smiled brightly at him as he extended his arms to hand them back to him. Emperor’s smirk grew as he turned around to walk away.

 

“You can have them. Use them in the next tournament.” He had said, “If you win, you’ll be a trend for sure.”

 

Gloves always felt sick remembering what happened after that. He had been star struck, he had danced in his room at the memory of talking to his idol, the inkling who had admired for the past two years had gifted him a brand new weapon. Gloves trained for months leading up to the next tournament, his sheer determination to meet Emperor again had managed to get him and his team in the finals. Gloves had bought a gift with all the money he had saved for the past year to give to Emperor as a thank you for not only the weapon but for being kind to him that day. Gloves had also realized he had never given him his name so he made sure to remember to tell him after the tournament.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

“The winner is, Emperor’s Team!”

 

Gloves and his team had been utterly defeated, covered in ink and panting like they had ran a mile. Gloves had never been exhausted from a match so badly before, he couldn’t even come close to Emperor by the sniper on his team hitting him harshly from up close throughout the match. His dualies were left sprawled on the floor just like him, covered in scratch marks and sorting a brand new ugly dent. The clear memory of the look on the king's face would never fail to give him goosebumps .

 

“Dualies….you must be that kid from the mountain.” Gloves had lit up at the mention of Emperor remembering him. Even though they had been defeated the match had all been in good fun no? Surely Emperor would lighten up and shake their hands, saying it was a good game and congratulate them for making it so far. He would wouldn't he?

 

“Y-Yeah! I-”

 

“Just as I suspected,” Emperor cut him off quickly, “Your passion for what’s ‘trendy’ is only skin deep, just like you.” Emperor mocked loud enough for the cameras to hear, “You're pathetic if you thought with a new weapon you could defeat someone like me.” Gloves could still hear the snickering from the crowd. “This is truly pathetic, I don’t even know how you and your team even made it this far with such little coordination and skill. As a king it doesn't matter what weapon I use or what clothes I wear, I always come up on top.” Gloves had wished back then it had all been just a cruel joke. He had wished that the squid he had admired for so long wasn’t talking down to him like a child on live tv. But it _was_ true and it _was_ real.

 

“B-But I-”

 

Emperor didn’t even give him a chance to speak before turning around with his team and without a second glance walking up on stage to claim his prize. Gloves had watched Emperor on the screen with tearful as he smiled like he had not a care in the world, and Gloves learned then and there that he _didn’t_. He didn’t care for anything other than his team and his tittle and someone like Gloves did not matter in his life nor did any of the other inklings cheering his name.

 

His teammates knowing of his admiration had tried to cheer him up afterwards with a party that day but Gloves had been too devastated to attend and preferred to lock himself in his own room and suffer in silence. That night he tore everything relating to Emperor in his room and threw it all into a box and hid it deep inside his closet. The clip of Emperor talking down to him and his team had gone viral, various inklings and news sources all commenting on how Emperor gave him what he deserved that day. It was all just more salt on his already bleeding wound. Gloves read every last post and cried himself to sleep that night, he cried not from embarrassment or the hateful comments he received but from the reality that the his idol, the king he admired for so long was cold and blunt inkling that didn't bother with inklings like him. Of course, throughout the year he had started to see that Emperor had been right and his passion for being trendy did only go skin deep, but that didn't mean he still didn’t forgive Emperor however for teaching him his _‘lesson’_ on public tv for all to see. That had definitely been too far. Gloves grew from that experience and became a better much _wiser_ squid, no longer did he easily admire popular turfers or players, he no longer expressed his love for trends to just anybody he was much more guarded with himself and the people he chose to surround himself with. Of course he had to nowadays, he was known as the _'Trend Seeker'_ after all and inklings still often mocked both him and his team even to this day. Gloves didn't let anyone but his teammates and a few other close friends in, and it had seemed that it would remain that way for the test of his life. The only inkling who had managed to break the wall he put up for himself until recently had been Goggles. When they had first battled back in the plaza the blue inklings smile and love for turfing managed to bring back a brighter smile onto Glove’s own face and even remind him why he still turfed in the first place.

 

Goggles reminded him that turfing was all about _fun_ , and Gloves was eternally grateful for that, and ever since then Gloves had mostly returned back to his old self. Emperor long forgotten in his mind.

 

Until recently…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOAH I'M ACTUALLY PROUD OF THIS WHAT!? Anyway I wanted to write a fic on Gloves and Emperor starting their relationship from scratch, well more like ashes woops. Hope this is interesting enough, just to clarify Gloves isn't upset with Emperor because he told him the truth he's upset with the way he went about it (in case it was unclear). Anyway, comments and kudos always appreciated and if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them down bellow ^^ <3


	2. The Emperor's Lie

As the match against the Blue Team began to heat up with tension since the moment his brother Prince decided to move on his own by the influence of his opponent, Emperor began to see his road to victory begin to slowly deteriorate before him. His brother and teammates were inking the turf messier and messier as they allowed themselves to mess around with the opposing team, and although Emperor had no idea what had triggered this reaction he was certain he was  _ not _ having it.

 

_ We cannot allow the king’s road to be in a disarray like this! A king has complete control over his turf…..his subjects can only hang their heads against his overwhelming power when he’s in control! They have nothing to enjoy in his game! That is how the reigning king fights! This is how-! _

 

“Hey Emperor!” Emperor’s thoughts were abruptly cut short as his attention was suddenly turned to his opponent just a few feet away from him, smiling and waving at him as if they were acquaintances, “Come on you should have some fun with us too!” His grin was as big as a fools, “Isn’t having fun with everyone what turfing is about? So come on and join us already!”

 

Having fun with everyone? Those simple words seemed to have snapped something inside Emperor, something he knew he did not like.

 

“Enjoyment is only for the  _ winners  _ in turf wars." Emperor looked away with a scowl, "And since  _ my  _ team is winning, I  _ am _ having fun.” He practically spat out through gritted teeth as he stood watching the field in distaste. 

 

“Really?" His opponent laughed childishly, "Cause you looked kinda  _ bored _ to me to be honest!” 

 

.

 

.

 

. 

 

_ ….Bored?  _

 

_. _

 

_. _

 

_. _

 

The match continued on, and as it progressed, the match continued to get messier and messier. Emperor began to lose his focus, his mind too distracted on the words the idiot inkling had spoke and replayed them in his mind over and over again. Almost reflecting on them in a way, seeing on how they had touched a  _ nerve _ inside of him somehow. A nerve he never knew even existed within him. He had looked bored in his own game to his opponent, who was a complete incompetent fool. He couldn't stop repeating the statement over and over in his head at how  _ obscured _ it was. 

 

He looked bored in his own game.

 

That brutally honest statement the idiot inkling made had somehow and accidentally in a way  _ mocked _ him. It mocked his very character on such a deep level, it unintentionally pushed a knife into an unknown and unheard of scar it left Emperor felling…. _ petrified _ . The statement didn't just speak to Emperor on the way he was playing this particular match, it was talking about his entire person his whole  _ being _ . Maybe Emperor was taking it a little bit too personal but this was so unlike him. Emperor since the day he was born had been dedicated to him becoming the king of the square and the number one turfer in all of inkopolis square. He had dedicated his youth to training and studying on every weapon, every strategy, every technique needed to become a king at turf. He was born to turf which meant he  _ couldn't _ be bored. He had never felt bored studying day after day, year after year, and he had certainly never felt bored when practicing and winning every match he and his team happened to participate in so the inkling was wrong so he could move on and forget about it all….except for the fact….that he also never remembered ever having  _ fun _ while doing any of those things  _ either _ . 

 

And then Emperor had it. That was what snapped inside him, the realization he hadn't even known about. 

 

He really  _ had _ been bored, bored with his life outside of turfing. He had always been so bored with his life that he chased the joy in triumphing over others to distract him subconsciously from the reality that outside of turfing he had nothing else in his life besides his family and their business. No hobbies or pastimes, no job or goal, just the never ending thirst for triumph that never seemed to be enough for him. Because it  _ hadn't _ been enough. 

 

Emperor felt his kingdom slowly crumble the more he the idea bounced in his head.

 

Had everything in his life just been one huge facade he had made for himself? He thought back on every match he had ever fought since he was thirteen, since the day he first stepped into the tower. Every battle had always ended in him and his team winning in the end. He couldn’t remember how the actual battles went or even when they had happened, he could only remember his victory and his opponents disappointed blurry faces clawing at his mercy. He had never really bothered or taken the time to ever take a good look at any his opponents before, he simply saw them as pawns in his own now imaginary game of life. A game that had no end to it because he never allowed it to end. All his matches had never been  _ fun _ , they were simply educate and nothing more, stepping stones to an unattainable and nonexistence victory. 

 

_ They were nothing. _

 

.

 

.

 

.

  
  


“Game set!” 

 

.

 

.

 

.

  
  


Emperor had never lost a match in his life, losing was never on his mind because nothing else was  _ on _ his mind other than winning. Because winning was everything to him. Winning was what made him happy…..and gave him a purpose outside of his parents and outside of their business….it was his only escaped from it all….

 

…. _ wasn’t it? _

 

“And the winner is….The Blue Team! The idiot team has beaten the four year reigning monarchs in this year’s Square King Cup!” The crowd erupted in cheers and applause at the announcement, the monarch team had finally been defeated and their reigning title had come to a very surprising but incredible end. 

 

"Hey! We're the  _ Blue _ Team! Not the Idiot Team!"

 

After Emperor seemed to have finally snapped out of his thoughts, his mind did its best to comprehend what had happened. The streamers and confetti fell in slow motion around him as he stared at the score on the board emotionless.

 

“I….lost?”

 

The Blue Team had won their match against his team with a strategy he had never read about before in all the books in his library, every move they made had been spontaneous and or badly planned yet effective at catching them off guard. Their wacky teamwork was uncoordinated and sloppy but yet it still carried a unified feel so unique to them. They had brought on such a tension that even Emperor had been left wondering whether he would actually win or not. The tension, the loss, it was nothing Emperor had ever experienced or felt before….it was a type of thrill that made his adrenaline levels skyrocket….he was shaking….it was some type of-!   
  


“Emperor!” His opponent called out as he ran up to him with a wide smile, “That was such a fun match! We should totally turf again someday!" The short inkling boy extended his hand for Emperor to take, "I'm Goggles by the way, I'm glad to see you finally smile after a match for once! You look so happy!” Emperor didn’t even know he was smiling until the idiot inkling pointed it out. So this is what it meant to have fun with  _ everyone _ . Emperor took in a deep breath to let everything sink in, he had discovered something about himself today, something he didn't have a complete grasp on but he knew in his gut that it had flipped a switch inside of him for the better. 

 

"Yes, we definitely should." He took the inklin- _ Goggles _ hand and shook it politely along with the rest of Team Blue who flabbergastingly accepted his hand shocking Emperor's own team as well.

 

“Blue Team and Emperor’s Team, please step up on the stage for the awards ceremony!” 

 

\---

 

Emperor stood before the cheering crowd once more like he had for the past four years, and while a cheering crowd was nothing new to Emperor, for once he actually took a moment to look at every inkling cheering in the crowd and marvel at how happy every individual seemed to be congratulating the two teams. Had all his other crowds always looked this way? He and his team accepted the medals awarded to them for second place, bowing politely as they were placed around their necks. Emperor straighten his back and twirled the shiny gold in his hand, a gold that had once brought him pride and joy began to lose it’s worth the more he stared at it. It really was just a hunk of metal. 

 

“Hey! Em!” Prince pulled Emperor back unexpectedly along with N-Pacer and Jr. who tackled their leader in a huge group hug. “I think we did amazing out there! And I just wanted to say that I'm really proud of us!” The three inklings laughed as Emperor gasped for air before finally letting him go for air.

 

“Ok y'all I’ll be honest," Eging Jr. spoke up staring at his medal. "I've  _ never _ been in second place before, like ever.  _ So, _ I’m gonna totally put this bad boy in a case to show my pops once he gets home next month! He'll be super jealous I  _ know _ he doesn’t have one!” Jr. eagerly grinned holding up the medal with pride. 

 

“I think I should too!” N-Pacer agreed, “I’ll put it next to the others at home to show my parents when they get home in few months too!” 

 

Emperor stared at his teammates in disbelief, he had never seen them  _ this _ happy after a match or tournament before. It was almost unreal. The more Emperor thought about it, the more he realized he had been breezing by on all of these little simple but important aspects of life. Everything always moved so fast Emperor had never taken the time to actually stop and-

 

“Big brother?” Prince gently tugged at his sleeve, “You’re staring at us a bit weirdly….”

 

“Huh?” Emperor raised an eyebrow in confusion.

 

“Is this about losing the match?” All three of them looked down sadly, “I know it was my fault for breaking your strategy, I made us all lose the match and the tournament because of that. I’m really sorry for messing it all up.” Prince apologized but Eging was quick to step up.

 

“No it was my fault, I got distracted way too often and inked the least amount of turf in the whole match.”

 

“Actually I was the one who started to slip up at the end,” N-Pacer sighed disappointedly, “I threw a bomb in the wrong direction and was left without ink for the last few seconds.”

 

“But I was the one-’

 

Emperor watched his teammates try to take the blame off the other and lose their happy moment, Emperor quickly shook his head with a sigh and held up his hand to halt his teammates rambles.

 

“In actuality, it is me who threw the match and it is me owes you all an apology.” He looked at his teammates with a sad expression catching them all off guard. 

 

“Wha…? What do you mean Em? Sorry for what?” Emperor hesitated as he tried to find the correct words.

 

“I think I’ve been neglecting the fun in matches for not just our opponents but for everyone, including myself.” Emperor admitted slowly looking away, “What Goggles said about me looking bored in matches opened my eyes to the bigger picture. I think I let all the greed of winning get to my head and in return it has turned me into a terrible king and leader who has been neglecting you all and for that I apologize.” The team could feel the sincerity Emperor was quietly admitting to them making them smile at this rare side of their leader. 

 

“Yeah you do get carried away quite a bit from time to time.” Jr. quickly spoke up with a chuckle trying to lighten the mood, “But we’re glad to see you finally realizing it yourself.” At Jr’s words Emperor visibly stiffened his shoulders. 

 

“You’ve all…. _ known _ about this?”

 

“Of course we have,” Prince nodded pulling at her medal strap with subtle nervousness, “We never really said anything about it because we thought you were enjoying the matches we fought with your strategy. It’s a really good strategy too and since you’re the leader you’ve always known what’s best for us and we think you’re the best so obviously we follow you.” 

 

Emperor felt a small knot in his stomach tighten. “You all didn’t say anything, because you thought it made me happy?”

 

“We care about you Em, even if you have done some questionable things in the past we all knew it was all in good heart.” N-Pacer smiled before turning to Prince who held his brothers hands in his own, “We’re all willing to sacrifice a few things if it means it makes you happy. That’s what family does.” 

 

Emperor wanted to punch himself, he had not only not only been a terrible king but a selfish friend and teammate as well. He didn’t know how on earth he ever managed to get such an amazing and supportive family like his team who were willing to sacrifice their happiness for his own.

 

“You guys….” Emperor looked away feeling suddenly feeling his chest hurt, “I promise I’ll be a better king for you all, I won’t be whatever this is anymore I’ll be stronger.” Emperor suddenly felt Prince run up to him with a hug.

 

“We’ll all improve, all of us as a team!”

 

“Awww don’t leave us out dudes!” Eging Jr. took N-Pacer’s hand and tackled the two brothers into another group hug. Emperor pulled the three in and joyously laughed, making sure to keep this moment as a reminder of what he needed to keep in mind moving forward for the future.  

 

“Ah! Team Emperor!” The announcer called out running up to them. “Glad I was able to catch up with you! We know you guys often leave before the shake of hands after party but would you mind if this year you stepped down to shake hands with all of the participants? They always ask for your presence.” The announcer kindly asked pointing towards the secluded area off the side of the stage where all the teams stood socializing. 

 

“Oh we’re sorry Ms. but we-” Prince pipped in but was quickly interrupted by his brother.

 

“We’ll gladly do it.” N-Pacer, Jr. and Prince all stared at their leader with shock. 

 

“For eel!?”

 

“But I thought you hated shaking hands-”   
  


“I’m striving to become a better king,” Emperor crossed his arms proudly, “And a good king doesn’t neglect his subjects and you shouldn’t either.” Emperor cooly stated smiling at his team making them all smile in return and nod. The team quickly made their way to the secluded area and began shaking hands with the others teams. Everyone in the room was amazed at being able to have the chance to shake hands with the most powerful team in inkopolis. Emperor’s Team seemed to be enjoying themselves too, finally being able to put names on faces.

 

“Wow! Oh my cod I’m such a big fan Mr. Turf King!” Metry from the School Cardigan Team eagerly shook Emperor’s hand as she fangirled. “I literally have a poster of you on my wall this is unreal!” 

 

Although Emperor was quickly reminded of why he didn’t like shaking hands with other teams in the first place he surely was at least grateful that even though he had lost his title officially, everyone was still happy to shake his hand and recognize him as a king. Emperor managed to break loose of Metry’s incredibly strong grip and reunite with his team who all also seemed to sport hand cramps of their own.

 

“I think we shook everyone’s hands!” Jr. sighed exhaustedly, shaking his sore hand in the air.

 

“Yes I believe we have.” Emperor scanned the crowd with an analytical eye, double checking to make sure they hadn’t missed a team, “Ah, hold on.” Emperor pointed to a team of inklings standing by the refreshments all by themselves in the corner. “I believe we missed them, come along.” Prince froze as he quickly realized who his brother was pointed at and quickly made N-Pacer and Jr. look who it was as well.

 

“Huh!? Woah, woah, woah wait Em I don’t think that’s a good idea!” The smile on Jr’s face quickly fell once he caught sight of who Emperor was pointing at. 

 

“Yes I agree with Jr. I think it’s best we retire from the event immediately.” N-Pacer spoke quickly standing in front of Emperor with a serious expression. 

 

“What’s the big deal? They’re the last ones, once we shake their hands we can leave I promise and talk about the future of our team.” Emperor brushed off N-Pacers and continued to stride by himself with his team following closely behind to the neon green team on the other end.

 

“Yeah we totally did and I-”

 

“Ahem.” Emperor cleared his voice catching the attention of the inkling girl wearing the sideways takoroka visor talking to her teammate wearing clip-ons. The two girls looked up at him with wide eyes, which was nothing unusual for Emperor but they seemed off for some particular reason. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but me and my team wish to shake hands with you all and congratulate you for entering the tournament.” When the inkling girls didn’t answer Emperor decided to continue speaking. “What are your names if you don’t mind me asking.” 

 

“I’m uh….Straps.” She spoke quietly averting her attention away from him. 

 

“I’m Clip-Ons.” The girl with the short tentacles quickly spoke before turning around to poke the male inkling behind her to catch his attention. “Half-Rimz turn around!” She harshly whispered making the inkling boy turn to face Emperor.

 

“Hm?” The inkling boy adjusted his half-rim glasses. “Oh, it’s  _ you _ .” 

 

“Yes, I’m Emperor and this is my team behind me.” Emperor cleared his throat once again at the unexpected harsh tone from the other. “Me and my team just wanted to congratulate you all. Are you the team leader?”   
  


“No, that would be  _ me _ .” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm not dead! Sorry for the long wait work has been killing me lately but I finally managed to get this out! Yay! I apologize if this feels a bit rushed I will definitely go back and edit but for now I just wanted to get it out and out of my system. I really wanted to capture Emperor's emotions which I hope I didn't overdue (whoops) but more will be cleared up in the future. Anyway I'll work harder to get more out faster :D I hope you guys enjoyed this little thing either way. Comments and Kudos always appreciated <3


	3. A Fresh Start

The world was truly a confusing and never ending box of surprises, one moment it was smacking the reality of your life in your face and making you have an existential crisis at the age of eighteen and then the next it was making you accidentally face the last inkling you’d thought you’d ever see back in your life standing right in front of you. To Emperor the green inkling boy was known as ‘that one cute kid from the mountains’ and that's about it, oh and ‘that same kid he defeated in the tournament’s finals last year’ oddly enough. Even more odd to Emperor was the fact that this particular inkling boy just kept reappearing over and over again in his life. Maybe it was the universe being an asshole but the amount of coincidences the two seemed to bump into each other in such a big city like inkopolis was unnatural. It was beginning to feel like every time he blew this kid away the universe put him right back on his tracks, why? Emperor didn’t know.

 

Emperor didn’t even know his  _ name _ .

 

“Uh, hello?” The green kid spoke up confused snapping Emperor back into reality shifting his gaze to meet the others green eyes, however once he made eye contact the other seemed to look away quickly. 

 

“You said you were looking for the team leader, is there anything you need?”

 

Ah right, Emperor completely forgot why he was even standing there to begin with. “Not really, my team and I just wanted to congratulate you all for participating in the tournament this year that’s all. Not a lot of team made it this year unsurprisingly.” Emperor cleared his throat awkwardly as he too found himself avoiding eye contact all of a sudden. He didn’t understand why the atmosphere turned so awkward, was it something he said? Maybe it was avoided eye contact, or perhaps the cautious looks the three team members were giving him behind their leader he wasn’t sure.

 

“Oh uh, thanks. You too.” The green inkling boy nodded but refrained from smiling, “That’s really nice of you.” 

 

Emperor wasn’t dense enough to not catch onto the strange atmosphere and vibe the two were clouded in, something was definitely up. Normally inklings, not to brag, would be nervous wrecks around him and would either ramble on about nothing or stare at him frozen in shock. Emperor remembered the inkling boy a year ago telling him he was a fan of him and reacting with both expected reactions, but for some reason now he was being rather standoffish. Emperor wondered if it had anything to do with the talk he gave him a year ago. 

 

Could he be… _ mad? _ No he couldn’t possibly be right? Emperor gave him the talk he needed, and if anything the boy should be  _ thanking _ him for having the balls to do so. It can’t possibly be that.

 

“Uh hey listen,” The boy suddenly said after a few seconds of silence. “Me and my team gotta go, we wanted to go hang out with some friends so we best be going.” The inkling boy quickly excused as he picked up his dualie case from the floor and helped his team retrieve their own belongings as well. Emperor furrowed his eyebrows by how fast they seemed to be wanting to leave, and Emperor wasn’t sure why he wanted them to stop either. 

 

“Hey-”

 

“Congrats on second place by the way, you guys did really good.” The green inkling bowed his head and without glancing back hurried out the exit along with his other three teammates, leaving Emperor alone where he stood. Emperor watched a bit flabbergasted, never had he seen anyone leave with such urgency _away_ from him before. They left without shaking hands or idly talking for a minute or two or even making eye contact for more than _fifteen_ _seconds!_

 

Emperor didn’t even get his  _ name _ .

 

“We tried to tell ya Em.” Jr. walked up to his side with a sigh, N-Pacer and Prince followed behind him resting their hands on his shoulders almost in a comforting matter.

 

“What do you mean.” Emperor turned to look at them with a raised eyebrow. “Did you see how….how rude they were!? Never in my life have I seen such unmannered inklings.”

 

“Well we haven’t exactly been the nicest to them so we can’t expect the same treatment.” Prince spoke up rubbing his arm awkwardly as Emperor shifted his gaze to him.

 

“Are you talking about what I told them last year?” Emperor rolled his eyes, feeling his sour mood from before bubble back inside him. “If that’s the case you all know full well they deser-”   
  


“That’s not the point brother,” Prince cut in a bit forcefully surprising all three of them to which Prince sent apologetic glances at before looking at his brother once more. “We aren’t known as the nicest team….so I’m not sure how you were expecting them to react. With smiles and open arms?” Emperor stared at Prince with shock, his brother didn’t often speak up but when he did he always had something important to say and important it  _ was _ . Emperor stayed silent, turning his head to look at Jr. and N-Pacer who both shoved their hands in their pockets and stared at their shoes not wanting to confirm what Prince had said but their silence was all Emperor needed to get the message. All this time the image Emperor had set out to be and be treated as was nothing like the image he had actually put out for the world to see. He was no king but a fraud to no one but himself. Emperor could feel his gaze fall to the floor in shame.

 

“Please don’t think it’s all your fault brother.” Prince stepped closer to give him a tight hug while N-Pacer and Jr. put their hands on his shoulder. 

 

“We all took part in this we’re a team after all.” N-Pacer nodded but smiled comfortingly.

 

“Pacer’s right dude, sure our image isn’t perfect or anything but it's not all bad either.” Eging Jr. gave Emperor a huge grin. “We’ve all done plenty of good stuff too ya know we’re not all bad at least not me, N-Pacer tho-” 

 

“Shut it.” N-Pacer playfully punched the taller inkling in the shoulder making both Prince and Emperor laugh. The two always did know how to brighten the mood somehow.

 

“Don’t dwell on it too much,” Prince broke away from their hug to smile up at him as well. “At least now you know now right? And that’s a step forward towards the right direction.”

 

A step forward towards the right direction. 

 

A step of many Emperor knew he would have to take to set things straight with everyone and everything, including the green inkling boy from before. He needed to become a better king, not only for himself, but for others as well and to take that step forward he would need to take a step back.

 

“Now what do you say if we all go to get some lunch? I’m starving for something at the Crust Bucket!” Jr. jumped in his place eagerly making N-Pacer and Prince light up at the idea.

 

“While I’m not a fan of fast food I suppose we can all relax and enjoy the evening.” N-Pacer smiled once more before turning to look at Prince who nodded eagerly in agreement. As the three inklings chattered on their way out of the lobby Emperor followed closely behind, debating in his mind what his next course of action should be. As much as he would love to enjoy the evening with his family and put aside his dilemma to deal with tomorrow he knew it just simply could not wait. He stopped just before he left the lobby doors making his team stop to look back at him in confusion.

 

“Em you coming dude?”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t Jr. I have something I need to do first.” Emperor could see the confusion in their eyes. “I’m leaving Prince with you two, make sure he gets home safely once you are all done for tonight of course.”   
  


“Of course, you can count on us.” N-Pacer nodded fiercely, doing her best to hide the uneasiness in her voice. “Forgive me if I ask but where are you going?” Emperor shoved his hands in his pockets and thought about what he could say but to be honest, he had no idea either so he simply shrugged his shoulders.

 

“I’m aiming to be a greater king, and I’ll need to do a few things to do so.” Emperor then turned to look at Prince and thought back to all the advice he had given him to become a great king like him. 

“Prince.” None of his previous advice would be as important as this one, perhaps it was the only one he believed in now. “Become the king you want to be.” 

 

Prince although a bit shocked at first smiled warmly and nodded. With a final smile to his team Emperor walked away and wandered off to take the first step towards the right direction, _literally_ turning right from the lobby and walking off to find his new self and a new destination.    
  


 

* * *

Gloves knew it would have been impossible to forget about Emperor entirely, his face  _ was _ plastered all over his parents brand advertisements after all, it was hard to miss his stupidly handsome face on his way home on the bus everyday. Not to mention he  _ was _ the number one turfing player in inkopolis square and his matches always hit the trending pages on social media, something Gloves was very much an active part of. Nonetheless, Gloves knew he could easily just block out any ad or news source that frequently talked about Emperor and avoid eye contact with the physical ads in the real world. It wasn’t like Gloves still had it out for Emperor but just looking at him sometimes brought on bad feelings and it was just something Gloves wanted to avoid if possible. Besides it was routine for Gloves at this point, a routine he had comfortably fit into and a routine that had just been broken in the least wanted way possible. It was easy to avoid a photo or video but avoid the real physical Emperor who is standing right in front of you? Good luck. 

 

“Hey Gloves? You okay?” Straps asked worriedly snapping Gloves out of his daze.

 

“Huh?” Gloves laughed realizing she was talking to him. “Uh yeah, why?”

 

“We weren’t sure how you were taking the whole…. _ situation _ back there and just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” Clip-Ons finished smiling at him cautiously.

 

“Yeah….I’m ok.” Gloves responded slightly taken aback. “It wasn’t a big deal you know.” Gloves sighed a bit irritated by his teammates lack of confidence in him to handle talking to someone he didn’t particularly liked. He was seventeen not five anymore he could handle things on his own. His teammates seemed to catch his irritated tone quickly which made Half-Rimz clear his throat.

 

“We’re just looking out for you, no need to get all defensive.” Half-Rimz shot him his usual unimpressed look but behind his glasses Gloves could tell he was worried too. “If you really are alright, you wouldn’t be acting like this.”

 

Leave it to Half-Rimz to always tell it to him straight, he scratched his cheek with his finger embarrassed by his actions. “Sorry, I’m just a bit tired I guess that’s all. I got work first thing tomorrow  and I won’t be getting out till eight so not really looking forward to that.”

 

“You better head right to bed then.” Clip-Ons smiled warmly and pointed to the bus stop up ahead. “Do you want us to wait for your bus with you?”

 

“Ah, no guys I’m alright. The bus should get here any minute now anyway.” Gloves smiled and sat down on the waiting bench. 

 

“You sure? We don’t mind waiting.” Straps added adjusting her hat.

 

“I’m sure. Thanks anyways.” 

 

“Alright then. We’ll see you on Tuesday for practice then. Say hi to Octophones at work for us.” Half-Rimz nodded curtly and began walking away with Straps and Clip-Ons who waved goodbye as they made their way to the train station just a few blocks away. Gloves waved back before leaning back onto the bench and groaning quietly to himself. He knew his bus wouldn’t arrive for another twenty minutes or so but it was for the better since he really needed this time alone for himself to clear his mind of all his mixed thoughts and feelings. He had a lot to think about and a lot on his shoulder that he needed to get off his chest with some music. After taking out his phone and playing a song on his phone he was unexpectedly greeted by the bus. The said bus was uncharastically early and sporting a brand new ad for Enperry from head to toe, with Emperor and his brother modeling the brand new Pearlescent and Rina Squidkid IVs front and center. 

 

“Of course.” Gloves rubbed his hand frustratingly down his cheek as he jumped onto the slightly crowded bus and held onto the strap hanger off the ceiling which also sported the same ad as the rest of the bus and began his twenty minute ride home.

 

The world was truly a confusing and never ending box of surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wOaH sorry for not updating in a hot minute I struggled with this chapter so much I have seventeen different variations of this chapter I didn't know how to go about it but oh well just bare with me please-
> 
> Anyway again sorry for not updating I literally have no excuse other than I couldn't write this chapter because I wasn't feeling it but the next chapter tho- Emperor is getting help from an unexpected friend-er acquaintance? He's now a lone rider trying to find himself so he'll need all the help he can get.
> 
> Guess he'll need help from another fellow lone RIDER.
> 
> Wonder who it will be.... ;)


	4. Start Anew?

Emperor wasn’t sure if staying awake and wandering the streets all night had been such a good idea. Emperor had thought it would have been a good way to clear his mind, but by the time the sun came up Emperor ended up even more lost than before and ended up resembling a walking corpse more than anything. His entire milky eminence gear was covered with dirt and scratches from the several hour walk around the Square’s area, he was an absolute mess. Finally taking a seat on a nearby bench by the Square Emperor realized too quickly that it had been in fact a bad idea if his sore legs had been anything to go by. 

 

The Square slowly but surely sprung to life as the sun took its rightful place above the sky, shining above inkopolis. Only in the loud and busy morning did Emperor finally had the clarity to think, the only thing he could think about was what he was going to do with himself both present and future wise. He was utterly confused on what his next step could and should be, he had a goal but even _that_ wasn’t clear. He wanted to become a better king but how to do it is another question entirely. 

 

Where _could_ he even _start?_

 

Feeling another headache coming, the monarch decided to instead take out his SquidphoneX+ and perhaps call one of his two friends or his brother to chat and relax with. Before even getting to the call app a news notification appeared on his screen, the notification advertising the Square King Cup results from the other day for anyone who had not been present at the event. While Emperor rarely ever took the time of day to read articles about himself he decided to spoil himself just this once and indulge in it.

 

As expected, the article talked about the shocking surprise of the Blue Team winning the finals and the close match between them and his team. A small smile crept onto Emperor's face as the writer of the article mentioned that even though the Blue Team had won, the Monarch Team and Emperor would always remain the king’s of the Square. While the article in itself was short but sweet the million and counting comments were a different story altogether.

 

_‘Kings? More like flops to me, so glad they finally lost for once. 40 straight wins just doesn’t add up they were probably cheating or something’_

_‘UGH I HATE THIS TEAM SERVES THEM RIGHT TBH’_

 

_‘Karma keeps her receipts and she has forty receipts for the Monarch Team’_

 

The comments went on and on ridiculing his team and praising their defeat and while some comments were positive and congratulated them for holding their title for so long most were the same insult repeated over and over again. In all honesty, Emperor wasn’t sure what he was expecting and he honestly could care less about the comments but while continuing to scroll past them one comment in particular caught his eye.

 

_‘They’ve hurt so many teams in the past before I honestly can’t feel bad for them they got what's coming to them’_

 

Hurt other teams in the past? He remembered Prince mentioning about this before the other day but Emperor wasn’t entirely sure what he had meant by it. Sitting up and straightening his back, Emperor closed his tab and searched for articles on his matches from past years. He didn’t even need to scroll down before immediately coming by a website that displayed a top ten list for their most ‘epic’ wins in the past. The list mentioned various unidentified teams that were subject to their ‘brutal’ tactics in turf and how they managed to pull of such stunts such as the Emperor’s Road. The article even mention one team that even broke apart due to the online backlash they received from not being able to defeat his team. The list became worse and worse as it reached the top five, Emperor feeling more and more disgusted as the article continued to insult the unidentified teams for losing as if it was the fate of the world had depended on their shoulders. Finally at the end of the article and holding the number one spot was none other than the Kings Cup finals from last year’s television broadcast. The article provided a video which even from the sight of it made Emperor’s mouth go dry. The green inkling boy and his team were ridiculed horrifically by the article stating that Emperor exposed the inkling boy as the attention seeking whore he was and outing him after _defeating_ him had been the most ‘badass’ thing the Monarch Team had ever done.

 

Emperor immediately turned off his phone and set it down beside him, leaning back on the bench in hopes of not screaming out loud from his frustration. 

 

Prince had been right, had he known about all of this? How had Emperor not seen it before? He was beginning to feel anger bubble inside him, directed not at the articles but at himself. He truly was no king. Although in many ways he regretted letting the curiosity get to him and in a good way he was grateful he did. Not only had it been eye opening it might also have led him to his first step. 

 

Fixing….whatever all that was.

 

Yes that was his first step on becoming a greater king, fixing his past mistakes with all the teams and inklings he’d hurt in the past. He needed to start from fresh, a clean slate, a white canvas, whatever he wanted to call it later he was going to have a redo and it would all start with that green inkling boy from yesterday, whoever he was. With newfound determination he opened his phone back up and scrolled through the article again but neither the boy’s team or his name was credited. Finding a dead end he decided to check the first article with the tournaments results but no information on any of the previous teams were out yet from the official website. Another dead end. He clicked around and stumbled across a picture of the boy in the back of a photo chatting with the inkling he had faced off in one of the semi finals and Goggles. 

 

Emperor smirked, he had found his lead. 

 

He went back to his home screen and went through his contacts. Finding the contact Goggles had given him while they had shaken hands back at the ceremony the other day and pressing the call button. He waited three rings before the call was picked up.

 

“Hello? Goggles? Yes, I need you to give me information on someone I think you might know.”

 

* * *

 

Emperor doubled checked the address he had been texted before ringing the doorbell to the small apartment duplex in front of him and waiting patiently by the old doormat. He heard the sound of footsteps approach the door before the beige door swung open and he was greeted by the sight of the yellow-green inkling he was looking for.

 

"Why hello Rider great to see you're home." 

"Emperor!?” Rider coughed and spat out his coffee from the sheer shock of seeing the yellow inkling, Emperor watched slightly disgusted at the scene stepping back to not get any of the coffee on him. After finally catching his breath Rider turned to look at the king with a confused expression. “How the hell do know where I live!? I don't remember giving you my fucking address." 

 

"Oh you didn't." Emperor couldn’t help but smirk at his purposely vague answer, he just couldn’t help but mess with others.

 

"Then how do you know where I live?" Rider wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his Rockenberg white baseball long sleeve, his glare sharpening as he watched Emperor’s expressions carefully.

 

"Goggles gave it to me. I’m lucky he gave me his contact yesterday at the tournament, he told he’s the only one who isn’t from your team who knows where you live.”

 

“That idiot is giving away people’s addresses now? For cods sake I swear I’m going to-” Rider cut himself off, cursing under his breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose from frustration. 

 

“Yes well that's not important right now, so if you could please let me in-" Emperor wasted no time stepping up to the door in hopes of slipping past Rider.

 

"Woah, woah, woah hold it there.” Rider put his hand in the doorway preventing Emperor from walking further. “You don't just show up to someone's house looking like a fucking lunatic for nothing what the hell do you want?"

 

"I'll tell you once you let me in," Emperor insisted trying to step past him to no avail.

 

"Tell me why you're here." Rider repeated pushing him back threateningly.

 

"Rider it's 70 degrees out here you can't possibly keep me out here forever for me to explain." Emperor rolled his eyes as he impatiently crossed his arms and tapped his foot. He couldn’t believe Rider was being so stubborn, but then again he couldn’t really blame him. He hardly even knew the guy.

 

"I can and I _will_ now spit it out, what the hell are you doing here!?"

 

"Hmph and they say I'm rude they've clearly never met _you_." Emperor couldn't help but murmur under his breath which Rider clearly heard if his eye twitching was any indication of it.

 

"Alright I've had it, have a good fucking day your majesty." Rider quickly grabbed the door handle and swung it forcefully to slam it in Emperor’s face but not before Emperor stepped his foot in front of the doorway to prevent it from closing all the way. Rider looked at him through the crack confused which made Emperor rolled his eyes again at the situation, he couldn’t believe he was saying this.

 

"Ugh….listen Rider I need your help." 

 

"Eh?"

  


* * *

 

 

"So you're telling me Goggles did the same thing to you?" 

 

"Yeah he's done it to a lot of people, get in line. There's something so stupidly annoying yet effective in him but I digress." Rider sighed as he served Emperor who sat on the other side of his kitchen table another cup of peppermint tea. Rider had begrudgingly let the yellow inkling into his home after he explained to him his situation to which Rider seemed to understand mysteriously. 

 

"Interesting.” Emperor nodded and took a sip of the fresh tea. “Hmm, your tea is not that bad by the way, a little too cheap for my tastes but not bad." While Emperor had meant for the statement to be a praise the annoying look on Rider’s face was a clear sign it had not been taken that way.

 

"Tch, it's not my fault I can't afford your stupid boccie tea but whatever back to what you were saying earlier you seriously want to become a better person?" Rider sat down and took a bite of one of the biscuits he had laid out on a tray for the two of them and pointed the bitten treat at him in emphasis.

 

"You're saying that as if it's something out of the ordinary I thought it was common for people to feel the need to change." Emperor furrowed his eyebrows at the implicated disbelief Rider had used.

 

"Yeah regular fucking people maybe but for someone like you it's like a damn miracle." Rider explained as if it were facts.

"Are you going to help me or not?"

 

“Do I have a choice?” Rider sarcastically asked taking a sip of his tea.

 

Emperor let out a cynically amused laugh. “No, of course you don’t.”

 

“Thought so.” The two inklings took a moment to take another sip of their tea before Rider spoke up. “Listen, I get what you’re going through. I've changed a lot too, so I guess my experience can be of some type of help to ya. The first thing you're gonna wanna tackle is where to start. Personally, I started by being a better team leader to my team and being actually nice to them for once." Rider explained calmly as he looked away. “Our relationship from the start was kinda based on fear on their part so I needed to establish trust between the four of us.”

 

"Interesting.” Emperor hummed but shook his head. “Although I do want to make some changes with my team I actually wanted to start with something different, better said _someone_ different."

 

"Someone?” Rider raised an eyebrow. Who then?" 

 

"The inkling boy." Emperor received an unimpressed look from Rider.

 

"I have no idea who you're talking about." 

 

"Ah right,” Emperor forgot he needed to get Rider up to date. “He's this inkling boy that I beat in the finals last year and whom I’ve not been the nicest to. He has the slick back hairstyle and wears-"

 

"Are you talking about Gloves?" Rider set his cup down much to Emperor’s surprise.

"You know him?" 

 

"Don’t I.” Rider seemed to grimace at the thought. “Yeah I know him, he's the annoying motherfucker Goggles met back in the plaza when he was visiting." 

 

"He knows Goggles?" Emperor was beginning to think Goggles knew everybody, he sounded like the protagonist of some story.

 

"Yeah he's another one of us. Goggles kinda got him to open up a bit more after they had a match or something. Of course no thanks to you I heard, Half-Rimz told me that the whole reason he was pretty meh with others was because you embarrassed him or something."

 

"I'm _aware_ thank you very much,” Emperor glared at Rider menacingly as he took an unpleasant bite of his biscuit. “But that's precisely why I want to make things up to him and repair the damage I've done with…..Gloves." It felt almost relieving to finally put a name to his face, a rather catchy name at that.  

 

"I get that captain obvious but why start with him specifically?" Rider leaned his head in hand waiting Emperor’s response. The monarch took a moment to process the question, why with him specifically? The answer was clear as day, it was the guilt he felt but there was no way his pride would let him admit that to Rider of all inklings.

 

"I'm not exactly sure.” Emperor lied through his teeth. “I just have a feeling that’s all."

 

Rider clearly did not buy his answer at all but opted to shrug his shoulders instead and not get into an argument with him. "Alright suit yourself. I'm guessing he hates you then and that's the issue no?"

 

"Actually, I'm not sure.” Emperor tapped his finger on the table almost impatiently. “I just need to say I'm sorry and call it a day but I have no idea how I can approach him and tell him that. Not to mention I don’t even know where he lives and if you want to get more technical I don’t know _who_ he is as well. The whole reason I came looking for you was because I noticed a picture online of the two of you and Goggles talking with each other. I would have asked Goggles but he’s…." Emperor cleared his throat looking away. “Well to put it nicely, I don’t believe he’s the right inkling I needed to discuss this with.”

 

“Yeah I get it.” Rider nodded knowing fully well what he meant. “But just to make things clear we’re not friends or anything and I don’t know anything about him either.” Rider clicked his tongue as he stared at his cup. “But I do know where he works.”

 

"You do?” Emperor looked up at the yellow-green inkling hopefully.

 

“He works at Minzy’s designer clothes shop just twenty minutes from here just search for it. I visited earlier today to return a shirt that was too small for me actually actually and ran into him walking in to start his shift. You could go and talk to him there, just walk in and buy something in there and when you’re checking it out just tell him straight up you’re sorry and then just walk out to not make it awkward." 

 

"That's....actually a brilliant idea.” Emperor was genuinely surprised at the quick and efficient idea and decided to steal the plan as well. After idly talking for a few more minutes Emperor stood up and made his way to the door, unhooking his jacket from the entrance and turning to Rider with a small nod. “Thank you Rider you've been of much help, and actually before I go, can you give me your contact?" 

 

"Tch, not even going to _ask_ if you can have it you’re just going to demand it?” Rider placed a hand on his hip unsurprised earning him a cynical smirk from Emperor.

 

“I don’t hear any objections.”

 

“You’re just as worse as Goggles. Fine, just don't expect me to call or anything I hate talking to others." Rider extended his hand for Emperor to hand him his phone and typed in his contact before handing it back to him.

 

"Not a problem. To be quite frank I don’t like talking to others either and even less with you but I think if you’d learn to buy better tea and learn some manners we could be good acquaintances at best." At the snarky remark Rider let out a dry laugh. 

 

"Pfft yeah right. Now get out of here.” Rider waved a short goodbye before turning around. “And lock the door on your way out I don’t I can handle talking with another idiot today and lose more of my sanity.” Emperor nodded and as soon as he opened the door he was greeted by the sight of none other than the Blue Team waiting by the door.

 

“Oh hey Goggles.” Emperor smirked as he opened the door wide to let the four inklings in and smirked even wider once he shut the door behind him and could still hear the sounds of Rider screaming from outside.

 

* * *

 

After typing in the address on his phone he quickly made it to one of the many shopping districts not too far from the Square. Spotting almost instantly Minzy’s shop taking its place as the biggest building in the entire shopping plaza. The area was not very crowded as it was still early morning which only made it more easier for Emperor to walk around and not be recognized. Deciding to take extra measures and to cool off from the hot sun, Emperor took off his jacket and wrapped it around his waist so only his clean black octoking tee was showing, he also guessed he wouldn’t be let inside the store if he looked like a dirty rat either so it was for the better. Speed walking his way to the building, without much thought or second guessing he entered through the automatic doors to the air conditioned building.

 

“Hello welcome to Minzy’s I’m the owner of the store, is there anything we can help you with today sir?” The octoling immediately greeted him with a smile as they immediately gestured to the advertisement posters all over the store. “We have a broad selection of brands including the latest Toni Kensa gear selection, Enperry's Spring shoes line and many more as well as non-gear clothing if you don’t turf.”

 

"Yes thank you I'm just here to browse." Emperor nodded politely earning him a nod of understatement from the owner. 

 

“Of course no problem sir, if you ever had any questions our employees will be happy to help you.” The kind octoling waved before turning their attention to new guests arriving by the door. Emperor took the time to genuinely look around the front of the store which although extremely fashionable and high end still retained a comforting home feeling to it. The monarch wandered around the store unable to find Gloves anywhere. After looking for ten minutes and only getting half way through the store he searched for one of the employees and found one restocking the Spring Shoe selection off to the side of the Enperry section. 

 

"Um excuse me." Emperor approached the female employee who turned around and gasped as soon as she saw him.

 

"Woah are you-!?” The employee pointed to the display she was setting up which had Prince and him posing with the Spring shoes.

 

“Yes, that’s me.” Emperor quickly finished visibly regretting approaching the employee.

 

“Sorry, sorry got a little excited there!” The female inkling giggled and tried her best to not shake in her place. “Can I help you with anything?" 

 

"Yes actually, I was hoping you could tell me if you knew where Gloves is?" 

 

"Gloves? Are you some friend of his?" The inkling girl raised an eyebrow in minor curiosity, almost weary of giving him that information.

 

"Yes, I'm a….close friend of his." Emperor lied not sure how else to answer her question.

 

"Oh, he works in the Toni Kensa section." The employee turned to point towards the back of the store. “Down there.”

 

“Thank you.” Emperor quickly walked off towards the direction she pointed at, not hard to find where due to its sheer size taking over almost half the place the Zink aisle. Quickly making his way over, the section was surprisingly deserted with the exception of the shuffling from a short distance. From over the shelves he could spot hands pinning up the bottom of an advertisement poster, and the varely visible green tips of tentacles. Emperor made his way behind the shelves and load and behold there he spotted Gloves hanging a rather suggestive advertisement of the newest number one Toni Kensa showing off the company’s newest clothing line. 

 

Gloves seemed to be humming along to whatever music he was playing through his headphones which put Emperor in awkward position just a few feet behind him. Emperor decided it would be best to wait for him to get down from the stool he was on before talking to him. Speaking of which what on earth was he going to say to him? Cod he hadn’t planned it out, but then again why was he worrying so much? He just needed to apologize, perhaps buy the ugly sweater the model was wearing for Prince since he had been wanting to buy it recently, spit in the posters face and leave. Before Emperor could continue plan out his layout Gloves finished securing the poster in place and caught sight of him from the corner of his eyes.

 

"Woah, I’m so sorry sir can I help you with anythi-" Glove turned around and froze mid smile once facing him. Emperor noted how he wore a different variant of his regular outfit with the only exception being the employee lanyard he wore that was covered with various logo clips, the most prominent one being the Toni Kensa one.

 

"Hello." Emperor gave a half hearted smile from the sudden awkwardness that came between them again. Why did it keep happening?

 

"Uhm hey. Can I help you with anything?" Gloves returned the smile but it was blatantly obvious it was one put up for customers and not from genuine intentions. The question almost flew right over Emperor’s head, the air around them throwing him off focus.

 

"Oh, yes actually! I was just looking for…." The king scanned the room unsure of what he was looking for. "That sweater right there." Emperor quickly pointed behind Gloves who turned to look at the poster he had just put up, it truly was distasteful in Emperor’s opinion he would never understand why Prince was such a fan of this particular model.

 

"The Romantic Polka Dot Sweater?" Gloves almost seemed surprised. “I really like that one, haven’t been able to buy it though. I believe we have it right over there next to the swimsuits.” Gloves pointed towards the direction the sweaters laid. “Do you need anything else?” Emperor turned to look back at Gloves feeling panic rise, what did he do now? He couldn’t just say what he wanted to say and leave the situation wasn’t there yet.

 

"Are you….going to ring me up once I’m done?" Emperor asked hopeful and still trying to see if he could salvage his mission.

 

"I don't work at the cashier, Octophones is the one who can help you check out." Gloves scratched his head as he pointed towards the front of the store, visibly confused by the question. “Uh if you want you can tell him that I sent you there and he can hook you up with a discount if you want.”

 

"That’s alright.” Emperor had no idea how he was going to save this, perhaps he should just let it go and come back another time. “I guess I'll be on my way then." 

 

"You aren't here for just that, are you?" Before Emperor could retreat Gloves spoke up and eyed him carefully.

 

"Of course I am." Emperor was beginning to get sick of lying so much.

 

"Really?" Gloves let out a small chuckle before the small smile faded. “You’ve been asking me some really on the spot and dodgy questions.” Emperor huffed out air from his nose at the very on point description of his behavior, apparently Gloves was smart _very_ smart.

 

"Alright, maybe I'm here for something else too." Emperor’s ego refused for him to elaborate much to both his and Glove’s frustration.

 

"Something?" 

 

Emperor let out a sigh before crossing his arms and making eye contact with Gloves. "I'm here….to apologize to you."

 

"For?"

 

"Well you know.” Emperor waved a hand around to try and emphasize his point. “For everything that happened to you and your team, I had no idea it was that bad." 

 

"Oh,” Gloves blinked a few times before shrugging his shoulders. “Okay then." 

 

"Huh?" Glove’s short and curt answer caught him off guard, he’d expected something more….well….something that wasn’t that.

"Yeah it's okay, don't worry about it." Gloves tilted his head slightly to emphasize _his_ point.

 

"You're not mad?" Emperor was genuinely surprised at his cool and collected demeanor, the same chill response Gloves had given him last time they interacted even with their clouded air of awkwardness. 

 

"No. It's fine, it happened a year ago so it doesn't matter anymore."

 

"Then why does it sound like you still hate me?" Emperor wasn’t sure why but he wanted a reaction out of him, it didn’t matter if it was a negative one at least Emperor would be able to read him and figure out what he was thinking feeling. Perhaps if he stopped walking on eggshells with his questions and got straight to the point then maybe Glove’s would show what was going through his mind. "You won't even look me in the eyes for more than five seconds it’s a little frustration." 

 

"Listen Emperor,” Gloves let out a sigh as he looked at him with serious eyes. “I appreciate your apology but I've already forgiven you, as a matter of fact I'm thankful for what you did. You taught me a life lesson and several others along the way and you've made me the inkling I am today and I'm truly grateful for that." 

 

"Then why do you hate me?" Emperor was not making any sense of what he was saying.

 

“Just because I forgive you doesn't mean I have to like you again.” Gloves crossed his arms as he leaned back on his foot. “You made me realize that my obsession for being trendy really was skin deep and it's important to call out people who get carried away with things, _but_ you also taught me that there are ways to go about it.” Gloves let out a heavy sigh as he licked his dry lips. “Listen you can ridicule me for the rest of your life and I wouldn't care but ridiculing me and my team on live tv for everyone to also ridicule us was crossing the line. My team had nothing to do with my obsession and they had no reason to deal with the consequences you gave me and yet they did and they continued to support me through it all. And again, I don't hate you for that Emperor none of my teammates do but we don't like you either and we don’t _have_ to so it's best we leave it at that and move on with our lives." Glove’s answer was more thought out than Emperor could have ever imagined, he was 100% in the right and if anything he had all the rights to feel the way he felt and yet….Emperor didn't feel satisfied with the response one bit.

 

"But I'm making efforts to change who I am, I'm striving to become a better king and I want to fix all the problems I've caused and the biggest problem I've made is with you." Emperor felt himself clench and unclench his fists trying very hard to express his situation which even he was beginning to see becoming blurred. 

 

"That's good for you and all but again, I told you I forgave you already and I'm not trying to be rude when I say this but what else do you want for me?" Gloves looked up at him with genuine concern, what _did_ Emperor want from him?

 

"I…." Emperor knew what he wanted to say but actually saying was harder than it seemed. "I want to make things truly right with you, Gloves." The taller inkling wanted to punch himself in the throat. "I know I'm not the nicest inkling you'll ever meet but I don’t want you seeing me as a bad person either cause I’m not and I feel….like shit for what I did to you so I’m going to fix it." Emperor’s words were spoken through gritted teeth, he sounded pathetic and he hated it but he was becoming a better king and no one told him it would be easy and he knew it wouldn’t be easy either.

 

"That's…..the first time you've said my name." Gloves looked shocked at the mention of his name, he looked down at his name tag only to see it was turned around and out of view. “How do you know my name? I never gave it to you.”

 

"I should have asked for it sooner." Emperor straighten up and held out his hand. “We’ve never had a proper introduction now that I think about it.” Gloves looked at his hand before looking back up to look at him, Emperor swore there was just the tiniest bit of excitement in his eyes. “I’m sorry for not introducing myself, my name is Emperor.” 

 

Although Gloves stared at his hand for a few seconds too long, slowly but surely took his hand and gave it a firm shake and for the first time in forever Gloves gave him a genuine smile. Not as big as the one he gave him the first time they met but it was a start, and a start Emperor would make sure he would be proud of.

 

“I’m Gloves.”

 

“I wanted to tell you that you and your team have improved a lot since the last time I saw you, it's not bad.” Emperor wasn’t the type to give praises but to become a better king perhaps saying something nice once in a while wouldn’t hurt.

 

“What a privilege to be praised by the king.” Gloves let out a small snort at his overly dramatic response with an equally as dramatic tone which earned himself a smirk from Emperor who played along with it.

 

“Hmph, indeed. I guess I’ll see you around then.” Emperor exhaled from his nose with relief as he turned to wave goodbye to the green inkling and head out of the store. He had done it, he had said apologized and now he could make things right again. On his way out he also managed picked up a small size of the sweater Prince wanted, he’d surprise him with it once he got home and perhaps call over N-Pacer and Jr. to begin discussing the changes that would have to be made for the future of their team. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M LAUGHING RIGHT NOW CAUSE MY FRIEND MAGS JUST POINTED OUT THAT RIDER AND EMPEROR HAD A TEA PARTY I SWEAR-
> 
> Anyway WOAH I actually updated? I'm so sorry for taking too long I've been visiting Germany actually for vacation and just been loving it so much lol (I'd legit want to live here if I knew German but I know only Spanish, English and Chinese so I'm outta luck lol) I legit have, and I'm not even joking, 17 different variations of this chapter but that ain't no excuse. Why do I have so many drafts? Cause my last three remaining brain cells can't write for shit. Besides that I hope you enjoy it! I wanted to make this chapter worth it since the last one was pretty....dull. (I will re-write it sometime idk) Part of the reason I had so many different drafts was because in the previous versions of this chapter either Emperor was OOC, Gloves was acting like an oversensitive teen, Rider was a bigger ass hole, I kept adding weird scenes that made no sense (For example that MODEL *cough* *cough* not posing suggestively smh), or the relationship was being a bit too rushed through their dialog which I still felt I rushed which is bugging me. I really wanna built their relationship and make it seem real, not some love at first sight thing I really want to flesh out their relationship (Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are HEALTHY relationships). Also I don't want to make them seem out of character or should I say too out of character hhhhh forgive me pls ; ^ ; This is probably littered with grammar mistakes if you see any don't feel shy to tell me it really helps honestly!
> 
> Well I hope you guys like anyway it also I hope the two people (or should I say person and oc *cough* *cough*) notice the lil something I place to show my love and support to them! 
> 
> I love you all stay safe, drink water, eat food, sleep and continue being amazing <3 <3 <3

**Author's Note:**

> WOAH I'M ACTUALLY PROUD OF THIS WHAT!? Anyway I wanted to write a fic on Gloves and Emperor starting their relationship from scratch, well more like ashes woops. Hope this is interesting enough, just to clarify Gloves isn't upset with Emperor because he told him the truth he's upset with the way he went about it (in case it was unclear). Anyway, comments and kudos always appreciated and if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them down bellow ^^ <3


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